Spring is springing in Our Fair City, and we were fairly shocked to discover last week that on a clear day, you can see the Yangtze from our apartment! Shocked because we have lived here since early January and had the first day clear enough to discover this was in mid-February. We did a quick Google Earth to confirm that it was in fact the Yangtze and not a branch or a tributary, and were pleased to discover that our view does include this rather spectacular piece of history.
Olympic Stadium in the morning light - you can *just* see the Yangtze back there where the smog meets the earth.
I have spent my life time living close to rivers. The Hudson, while growing up, going to school in Albany and living in Manhattan, then the Delaware when I moved to NJ and finally PA. And now the Yangtze. It is rather awe inspiring to be so close to such a colossal, universally known body of water.
We were also able to see, way off in the distance behind the rather imposing Olympic Stadium structure, some sort of a park like setting that seemed to lead up to the river. A quick check of Google Earth confirmed that there was seemingly a park, and so on Sunday morning, we set up off on a family outing to see the river up close.
It had to be at least a mile, so we popped Hope in the stroller and put Tom on his bicycle and set off. We decided to explore Olympic Stadium while we were at it, and learned a ton about our surrounding area during our two hour walkabout. And it was eye opening.
The stadium, as you can see in the photos is imposing. And it contains, in no particular order: a swimming stadium, an ice rink, tennis courts, two indoor arenas (one supposes for things like gymnastics? And maybe indoor track?), an outdoor football field, as well as an outdoor track field, and a sports science and technology building. Maybe imposing isn’t a strong enough word. Although to be fair, it’s not truly Olympic in size or caliber. Just unbelievably enormous and full of wacky stuff given its location. And we have never, and I mean, never, seen anything happen here. There is the occasional car during the week, and maybe a few people hiking through the facility, but there has never been an “event,” sporting or otherwise, in our time here.
From inside Olympic Stadium: That building in the distance with the slanting roof and the structure sticking up is where we live.
We have asked quite a few people the origins of this colossus, and in particular, why it is called the “Olympic” Stadium when the odds of the Olympics being held in a city as small and distant as this one are slim to none and slim—along with slender, thin, and tiny— is busy in Beijing right now. The answer seems to be that it was built as part of the government’s plan to convince the Olympic International Committee to allow the summer Olympics to be in Beijing. If I have my facts straight, the Chinese had a big push to get the 2000 Summer Olympics, failed in that effort, redouble their efforts (1), and were rewarded with 2008. I am not sure when our very own Olympic Stadium was built, but it is an impressive gesture, assuming that’s what it is meant to be.
So, it was great fun to wander among the great buildings, peering in and wondering how thrilling it would be to actually go to a sporting event here. There were a few other people wandering around on this fine spring morning, doing about the same thing we were, poking around checking the place out. But as our goal was the Yangtze, we pushed on. Through the Stadium, we popped out on the other side, and crossed the road to enter the park.
Note: no other people. We are heading toward the Yangtze.
The photos don’t do it justice, as there is a lovely pathway of paving stones, with lots and lots of landscaping that is going to be just spectacular when the flowers start blooming, with intermittent fountains, some quite complex, and little glass outbuildings scattered hither and yon in a charming scattered glass structure kind of way. We also passed an enormous, strangely shaped glass building that was labeled “Library,” although it seemed kind of deserted. Which was a theme for the entire park. Or maybe, it’s just the theme for the entire area we live in. Deserted. There weren’t any people. It was a lovely day, and I assure you that on a lovely spring Sunday, the parks in the middle of the city were packed with people getting out and enjoying the nice weather. But down in Ghost Town Central, we weren’t rubbing elbows with anyone. It gives us great pause as we explore our environs to wonder what in the heck all of the building is for. Or maybe who it is all for?
I have mentioned in the past, I believe, that this city is meant to become a software/technology center in China. And the government is building several software parks that are meant to house foreign software companies. It’s a reasonable plan, as the Universities here are pumping out people well qualified to work in the industry, who, by the way, speak English. So, the assumption is that with increased foreign investment, that the economics will support the infrastructure growth. And yet, it’s all so empty right now. In the middle of town, the feeling around all of the construction is optimism, growth, and development. Down here, it feels a little, well, forlorn.
Which, by the way, is not to say that we feel forlorn. Quite the contrary. We left a 130 acre farm in NJ where we lived half a mile from the nearest human; we rather like our privacy. And given that we live in an empty 30-story apartment building, we still feel like we live half a mile away from the nearest human. Heck, for all we know we might. Plus, we have daily maid service and a heated pool. So, what’s not to like??
We were successful in journeying all the way to the Yangtze, or as close to it as we could get. We arrived at the end of the pathway to find our way blocked by barbed wire and antique Japanese tanks, although we could peer around it all and see the river not too far off in the distance. The tanks are likely relics from the last Japanese invasion (The Rape of Nanking, if you are a history buff), and were rather sobering.(2) And the whole thing had a kind of “unfinished” look to it. It’s almost as though the park builders were planning to get all the way to the river, but were interrupted, threw up a fence and went off to the next project.
The Yangtze, Japanese tanks and barbed wire fencing. It looks like the park is meant to go all the way to the river, what with the pathways and all. But the barbed wire is a clue that it is time to turn around.
So, we turned around and headed home, promising to return, possibly on bicycle if we can figure out how to manage the children. Oddly enough, while I was very happy to tow them around on tandems and bike trailers all summer at Peace Valley Park in Doylestown, I am a little less enthused about trying it here. Really, trailering your kid behind you while you’re on a bicycle doesn’t seem very smart in a city where the traffic laws follow strict Darwinian principles.
But a fun time was had all around. And Hope was quite taken by her trip to the Yangtze. She is also a child who is growing up near rivers. One of her favorite Early Childhood Fables, you know, those stories you tell your children about themselves before they had memories is a very funny story where she dropped one of her toy doll bottles in the Delaware River. It’s a long tale, full of woe, that always make her laugh until she cries when we get to the punch line (“Gong!! Baby GONG!!-- we laugh like hyenas, but maybe you had to be there??). This time around, she was telling me the story, but when she got to the part where we were walking over the bridge and the baby bottle fell into the river, she twisted the story a bit and claimed she lost her baby’s bottle in the Yangtze! I can just see her trying to explain this one to her fourth grade teacher one day in the distant future.
Toward home - red Olympic stadium in the distance, and even further is the slant roof building where we live. Still, no other people. Just me and Hope.
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(1) Increased their bribes? Whatever, the Olympics are really all about the athletes, right? So the rest of it isn’t really relevant. Snicker.
(2) Jeff and I visited the Memorial Museum to the massacre last week as part of our Cultural City Tour, and it really is quite disturbing. I have been pondering doing a post on it, but the topic is really quite hard to discuss, and I assure you, there is nothing funny about it.
I have to say....I too find it rather odd that there are no people around, given the number of people in China. Perhaps they built the whole city just for you guys! :)
Posted by: Debbie | February 18, 2008 at 01:41 AM
Really odd. I think part of the problem is that we're so far on the edge of town, and the transportation infrastructure isn't quite finished yet (there's one subway line that gets here, but there is another that will be completed in 2009 that should really open the area up), plus a lot of the housing seems to be luxury. And while there are a few people who can afford that sort of thing, most of the university students who are graduating and landing jobs can't swing anywhere near the price of some of these units. I'd love to come back in five years, then in ten to see where this place has gone.
Posted by: Ellen | February 19, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Just today (feb 22, 2008), a financial analyst said that China is over building and cannot maintain this type of growth building forever (aka don't invest there). The other guy said growth to come for a long time. I guess they are over building.
No need to write on the Rape of Nanking. Just the name is enough.
Posted by: Faith | February 22, 2008 at 10:29 PM